Guru Seva

is once again being fulfilled right before our eyes. This promise was given
by the Lord at the end of Dwapara Yuga when Kali was about to come.

As Divine Knowledge was being lost, God has come to give it to man again. He
has come to us in His aspect of Vidya Shakti. This is the Vibhuti of Gurudev who
has made Jnana Yajna the lofty spiritual mission of his life. But for Gurudev,
it is difficult to imagine where Viveka, Vedanta and spirituality would be in
this fearful age of Adharma. Through the instrumentality of Gurudev, God is not
only protecting our spirituality, but positively building up our spirituality. I
may say that all those with Gurudev’s grace are not in Kali Yuga. The power of
the various modes of Sadhana which he has opened up for us enables us to
overcome the power of Samsara to drown us. Gurudev is thus creating and keeping
alive a current of Satya Yuga in Kali Yuga. In this atomic age, he is radiating
Divine Light far and wide.

How can we repay him? Will it ever be possible for us to repay him for the
great service he has rendered to us and is continuing to render? What is the
Guru-Seva which we can do to please Him? In this case, the greatest Guru-Seva
would be in the form of Jnana Yajna.

The glorious culture of Bharatavarsha has taught us to deify everything. The
Srutis repeatedly proclaim this eternal truth: ‘Isavasyam idam sarvam!’ --
‘Sarvam khalvidam Brahma!’ This is the glorious discovery of our ancients,
this unique conception of seeing God in everything, in the speck of dust, in the
insect, in the sky, in everything. We particularly adore anything wherein
Divinity is especially manifest, wherein there is an exceptionally dense
manifestation of any aspect of Divinity. The Vibhuti Yoga of Lord Krishna
enumerates these manifestations in detail. The Lord is also manifest in an
exceptionally dense form in the Guru, in the Spiritual Preceptor who enlightens
the disciple. That is why we are asked to worship the Guru as visible God. In
Swami Sivananda, we have a universal Guru, a person who deserves to be
worshipped by the entire universe.

Practice of Jnana Yajna as Guru-Seva to such a universal preceptor implies
two things: (i) the dissemination of the universal teachings of Gurudev as far
and wide as possible and (ii) the practice of those teachings in our daily
lives. For both these purposes, we must know what the main tenets of Gurudev’s
Gospel are. The fundamental points that Gurudev is trying to propagate may be
summed up as:

- There is a higher and nobler purpose in life than mere eating and drinking.

- That higher purpose is Self-realisation.

- Self-realisation can come about only through renunciation.

- Renunciation does not mean going away from home or taking Sannyasa. Real
renunciation consists in renunciation of Ahamkara (Ego) and Trishna (craving for
objects of sense enjoyment).

- Real renunciation as explained above is possible for everyone and must be
practised by everyone.

The second aspect of Jnana Yajna, viz. the practice in one’s life of
Gurudev’s teachings is really the more important. Knowing the teachings of
Gurudev thoroughly and putting them to practice is the practical way of doing
Jnana Yajna. Towards this end, I would suggest that everyone should get by heart
Gurudev’s Universal Prayer, Twenty Spiritual Instructions and Sadhana Tattwa.
Everyone should know at least the bare outlines of the four principal Yogas. I
would particularly recommend the book ‘Essence of Yoga’ by Gurudev. It
contains all his teachings in a nut-shell. Every disciple of Gurudev should also
know the important Asanas and some essential Kirtans and Bhajans.